How West, Southwest Orange County's top wrestlers finished at individual states

With a handful of wrestlers representing the area in both the girls and boys sides, West Orange High’s Raymond Cavey’s third-place finish was tops among the group.

By Sam Albuquerque
| 12:30 p.m. March 5, 2024

Sports
High Schools

At the FHSAA individual boys and girls wrestling state championship meets, various athletes from West Orange and Southwest Orange County qualified and had their shot at claiming a state championship crown. Ultimately three wrestlers from the area stood above the rest at the meets held in Kissimmee’s Silver Spurs Arena.

West Orange High’s Raymond Cavey, in the 126-pound weight class for Class 3A, had the best finish of any of the area’s wrestlers by taking home the bronze medal after an ultimate tie-breaker win over Lake Brantley High’s Dario Duany in the third-place match. Cavey finishes the season with a 41-5 record.

Cavey's top-eight finish was the first time in 13 seasons since West Orange Wrestling had an athlete place at the state championship meet.

In Class 1A at 150, The First Academy’s Nicholas Bittner finished in eighth place after a 6-3 decision for Mckeel Academy’s Jean Benavidez. Bittner finished the year with a 42-14 record.

On the girls side, Horizon High’s Jade Noble had the best finish of the area’s representative after falling to Fort Myers High’s Daphney Pierre in the fifth-place match. Noble finished the meet in sixth place and finished the season with a 19-8 record.

Sam Albuquerque is the Sports Editor for the Orange Observer. Please contact him with story ideas, results and statistics.

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author

Sam Albuquerque

A native of João Pessoa, Brazil, Sam Albuquerque moved in 1997 to Central Florida as a kid. After earning a communications degree in 2016 from the University of Central Florida, he started his career covering sports as a producer for a local radio station, ESPN 580 Orlando. He went on to earn a master’s degree in editorial journalism from Northwestern University, before moving to South Carolina to cover local sports for the USA Today Network’s Spartanburg Herald-Journal. When he’s not working, you can find him spending time with his lovely wife, Sarah, newborn son, Noah, and dog named Skulí.